Texas Almanac, 1947-1948 Page: 253
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TEXAS MINERALS 253
after the discovery of the Spindletop oil field
in 1901, for nearly half a century.
In the long run the mineral development of
Texas will depend in considerable degree upon
the development of manufacturing industries
in the state to utilize them Fortunately there
has already been considerable development of
the industries that consume the Texas min-
erals. In some instances manufacturing indus-
tries that were placed in the state as part of
the emergency war program will be held in
their new locations by the proximity of min-
eral materials. Thus the mineral producing
and manufacturing industrial texture is woven
A series of reports in recent years by the
Bureau of Economic Geology of the Unier-
sity of Texas indicates great potentiality for
future utilization of many Texas minerals that
are now merely known to exist The scientific
i econnaissance by this institution has for a
number of years shown the way for much of
the material development of Texas mineral
resources.
Grand Total Production Value-Trends.
The dependable record of Texas mineral
production extends through sixty-five years.
1882-1946, inclusive. The grand total of value
of minerals produced during this period is
$17t074,129,220. Because of the fluctuations in
the real value of the dollar, this is only an
approximate estimate of the value as meas-
ui ed by present standards Yet there is accu-
racy enough in the figure to give significance
to the fact that 34.4 per cent of the sixty-five-
year value was produced in the last five
years. 1942-1946, inclusive, and that 58 per
cent of it was produced in the last ten years.
The principal reason for this rapid accel-
eration of the annual value of Texas minerals,
of course, is found in the rapid increase in oil
production as field after field has been discov-
ered, and to less degree in the increasing
production of natural gas to go to market
through the rapid extension of intrastate and
interstate gas pipelines A considerable con-
tribution has been made, how ever, by the up-
building of industries to consume, and trans-
portation systems to carry, a large number of
the heavier mineral products For a long
period these heavier minerals were exclu-
si ely the kind that went to the construction
industry as building materials-stone, cement,
brick and tile, gypsum products-but latterly
the expansion of the chemical industries in
Texas and elsewhere has greatly stimulated
the production of other heay minerals.
While the chemical industries as yet do not
consume a large proportion of Texas min-
eials, the promise is more than considerable,
according to mining and industrial engineers
The great deposits of salt, clays, limestone,
lignite and other minerals will be added to
sulphur as raw materials for the chemical
industries.
Development of Mineral Resources.
The great needs of Texas for the develop-
ment of its mineral resources-as in the in-
stance of its agricultural produts-hae been
(1) transportation and (2) near-by industries
The obstruction to development of the min-
eral resources because of the lack of these
two factors has been greater in the instance
of most minerals than in the instance of agri-
cultural materials, because the former are
usually heavier forms of freight. Texas re-
serves of minerals are so great that they
easily glut a market. Even the oil market has
been glutted. (See pp. 257 and 258.) Today
the surplus of available natural gas, the most
valuable of all fuels intrinsically, keeps the
heat unit equivalent value below that of coal.
While Texas has not the advantage of near-
ness to the greater industrial markets of the
nation, it has other advantages that largely
offset this disadvantage in any consideration
of the possibilities of development of its heav-
ier minerals in the future It has natural gas
in abundance for an industrial fuel whichmakes advantageous the processing of min-
erals This applies both to smelting and to
utilization in the newer chemical industries
In Texas are smelters and refineries for zinc.
copper, antimony and tin-all operating with
natural gas. To this may be added the closely
allied glass-making industry Practically all
of the large chemical industries-the big syn-
thetic rubber plants at Houston, Port Neches
and Borger, alkali at Corpus Christi, nylon
salt at Orange, Celanese near Kingsville, mag-
nesium at Freepoit-hare come to Texas in
large degree because of the availability of
natural gas
Another big advantage Is the long arc of
deepwater ports which are served from a
hinterland that lies on a gentle incline above
them in such geographic position that over-
land movement of freight is facilitated. The
extension of the intracoastal canal along the
Gulf coast, connecting this area with the
great industrial regions of the Great Lakes
and the Ohio Valley by Inland waterway, is
also an advantage for the development of the
heavier chemical industries, and the eventual
development of branches of this intracoastal
canal along the Texas riers would greatly
add to the advantage
A third advantage is found in the great
diversity of minerals in this region To this
may be added the advantage in the great
diversity of agricultural products. This diver-
sity gives what may be called an interlocking
advantage in a day when a single industry
may feed on many different kinds of both
organic and inorganic raw materials and, in
turn, send its semiprocessed products and by-
products to other industries The new field of
chemurgic development will encourage min-
eral as well as agricultural production.
The great variety of Texas minerals, with
a parallel variety of vegetable and animal
products, and an abundance of natural gas for
industrial fuel constitute a peculiarly strong
combination of advantages for advancement of
the new chemical industries that have devel-
oped rapidly during the last two decades and
accelerated especially during the last six or
eight years. (See p. 195 )
TEXAS MINERAL VALUES, 1882-1946
Table below shows total annual mineral
production values of Texas for the period
indicated. Data are from the United States
Bureau of Mines and the Bureau of Economic
Geology of the University of Texas.Year-
1882-86...
1887......
1888......
1889......
1890......
1891......
1892......
1893......
1894......
1895......
1896......
1897......
1898......
1899......
1900......
1901......
1902......
1903......
1904......
1905......
1906......
1907......
1908......
1909......
1910......
1911......
1912......
1913......
1914......
1915......Value.
$4,935,363
1,000,000
1,006,534
1,760,473
1,992,806
2,525,259
3,295,240
2,655.437
3,116,835
2,856,537
2,956.940
3,330,798
3.417,511
4,573,631
5.316,222
6,647,926
9,390,585
12,766,865
14,353,270
13,753,346
14,751,037
19,806,458
15,212,920
17,217,807
18,383.451
18,817,304
22.979,015
31.666.910
30,363.426
29,220,951'Estimated
Year-
1916.......
1917 ......
1918.......
1919.......
1920.......
1921.......
1922.......
1923.......
1924 ......
1925.......
1926.......
1927.......
1928.......
1929.......
1930.......
1931 ......
1932 ......
1933.......
1934.......
1935.......
1936.......
1937.......
1938 ......
1939 ......
1940 ......
1941 ......
1942.......
1943 ......
1944 ......
1945 ......
1946......Value.
$47,711,571
75,958,481
110,306,367
190,565,015
371.250,979
212,141.250
249,604,173
260,460,913
272,729,023
351,212,000
420,586,730
374,471,992
378.814,807
416,355,546
382.676.504
302,201.046
390,141,32b
365,674,433
509.521,286
528.069,238
638,643,488
813.290.605
740,147.465
701,838.969
714,905.731
954.211,150
895.775,540
960,295,986
1,338.060.404
1,361.436.346
1.425.000 000
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Texas Almanac, 1947-1948, book, 1947; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117136/m1/255/?q=%22oil-gas%22: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.